Remember AB 340, the pension reform successfully pushed by Democratic Governor Brown, that even Governor Brown acknowledges is only a first step towards making public employee pensions financially sustainable?

Well even AB 340 goes too far according to Obama’s new Secretary of Labor, Thomas Perez. As Dan Borenstein of theContra Costa Times reports on August 16th,“unless California lawmakers exempt transit workers from the pension changes, the feds could cut off up to $4.3 billion of transportation funding, according to an estimate by the California Transit Association.That includes $174 million for BART, $225 million for Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and $12 million for AC Transit.”

The immediate negative economic impact of this is huge: Bill McMorris,reporting for the Washington Free Beacon on August 16th, writes“The federal government has withheld more than $500 million in funding to local… Read More

For the second time in as many years, the State of California is mailing hundreds of thousands of fire tax bills to rural Californians who live in the so-called State Responsibility Area. The bills are hitting mailboxes even as the class action lawsuit I’m backing has finally received a green light to move forward.

As Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers’ Association is fond of saying, “the wheels of justice grind slowly.” Although I believe the lawsuit against the fire tax will ultimately prevail, it appears the trial won’t be until next year at the earliest.

Delayed justice means that hundreds of thousands of rural Californians, whether they can afford it or not, must write another check for up to $150 per habitable structure to the State of California to pay this unfair and unjust tax.

Given the confusing and controversial nature of this tax, I’m sponsoring a series of regional telephone town hall meetings to give impacted taxpayers—many of whom are senior citizens living on fixed incomes in mobile homes—an opportunity to receive information and voice their questions and concerns. To date, more than 2000 taxpayers have participated.… Read More

Today the California Republican Party will release the headline speakers for their upcoming biannual State Convention, which will be held the weekend of October 4-6 at the Anaheim Hilton hotel in the heart of Orange County.

FlashReport has the scoop!

As of now (these things tend to solidify even more as you get closer to the event) the three headline speakers will be Texas Governor Rick Perry, Congressman Greg Walden of Oregon who is the current Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, and Sharon Day who is Co-Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

The highest profile speaker, Governor Perry remains extremely popular with grassroots conservatives despite his unsuccessful run for the Presidency in the last cycle. Perry has been the longest serving Governor in the history of the Lone Star State and has… Read More

Are you and your neighbors fed up with the policies of your local officials? For over one hundred years, disgruntled Californians have had the option of responding to onerous local ordinances or other government decisions by using the initiative to affect change, but a recent appellate court decision may mean the end of the voters’ right to use the initiative process at the local level.

It is no secret that politicians and bureaucrats detest the initiative process. Government insiders find it annoying that average citizens have the option to place measures on the ballot which can spoil their best laid plans.

Of course the initiative process was not established to make the political class more comfortable. It was intended to allow voters to act as the lawmakers of last resort when representatives proved to be indolent, incompetent, corrupt, or just plain unresponsive. Many… Read More

It comes as no surprise that an effort has begun, in earnest, to recall embattled San Diego Mayor Bob Filner. Seldom does one see, in politics, the kind of complete melt-down of an office-holder as we have seen with Filner. Last year during his campaign for Mayor, there we accusations leveled against Filner about the way that he treated women that went largely ignored by the electorate. But about five weeks ago, on July 10th, former San Diego Councilwoman Donna Frye and others publicly called for the Mayor to resign because of the way he treats woman, referencing unacceptable instances of sexual harassment. Fast forward to today and now a dozen women have come forward with specific and alarming accusations against Filner. And of course Filner himself has gone through a number of public contortions, admitting wrong-doing, issuing apologies, checking himself in for therapy and so forth. Filner’s political career is in tatters, and he’s now making a mockery of what has often been referred to as, “America’s Finest City.”

Yesterday a massive rally was held, part of the kickoff of the recall drive against Filner. By all accounts it was not only… Read More

Two Republicans in the California State Legislature are now voting for legislation sponsored by the state’s construction unions, following several years of unified, principled caucus resistance to such schemes. One might think that former Republican legislators Brett Granlund, Anthony Pescetti, and Ken Maddox are back from term-limited exile, in disguise.

Union leaders and lobbyists are thrilled! They can now label their costly, self-serving bills as “bipartisan” while labeling their more principled critics as “extremist.”

A Bipartisan Attack on Constitutional Rights, Local Control, and Fiscal Responsibility

Most prominent among the union-backed bills with Republican support is Senate Bill 7. This bill would withhold state funding for any of the state’s 121 charter cities that exercise their right under the state constitution to set their own government-mandated wage rate policies for purely municipal construction.

SB 7 undermines the principle of local control over local funds and the fundamental structure of constitutional federalism. It also punishes fiscally responsible cities that recognize how state-mandated… Read More

The United States Senate is currently considering the Federal Free Flow of Information Act. This would be a “shield law” that would protect the ability of journalists to keep their sources confidential. Right now 49 states and the District of Columbia have shield laws in place, but the federal government does not. This is a good idea, and I applaud the effort. Unfortunately the legislation has gotten hung because of one sticky issue — who is a journalist.

Our senior United States Senator, Dianne Feinstein, has introduced an amendment to this legislation (on behalf of both herself and Senator Durbin of Illinois) that would seek to narrowly define a journalist, with the rather obvious intent of trying to exclude independent and citizen journalists, such as bloggers.

Larry Atkins over in the Huffington Post reports:

The bill currently defines it [a journalist] as a person “with the primary intent to investigate events and procure material in order to disseminate to the public news or information… Read More

Transgender students in California will now have the right to use whichever bathrooms they prefer, and participate in either the girls’ or boys’ programs and sports teams, because of monumental legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday.

AB 1266 by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, amends the state’s education code, and requires that in addition to accessing the bathrooms of their choosing, each student will have access to sports teams, and programs “consistent with his or her gender identity,” rather than the student’s biological gender.

A boy who self-identifies as female could use the girls’ bathroom, even if he is anatomically male.

Do you see a problem with this?

Imagine a hormonal middle school or high school-aged boy who just wants the cheap thrill of looking at girls undressing in the locker room, or taking showers. (This would be just about every 13-year-old boy)

The libidinous lad will now be able to claim he is really a transgender.

So, for a few days he dons a dress, jewelry and makeup, and uses the girls’ bathrooms and locker room.When the gig is up, and his face breaks out from the makeup,… Read More